Justin Fields: Will the Jets Move On After the 2025 Season?
We’re already halfway through the 2025 NFL season. Some teams are stacking up wins and finding success. Others, not so much. One of those struggling teams is the New York Jets. As the season moves along, the Jets face a lot of questions. The biggest one might be this: Will Justin Fields return for the 2026 season? This week he was benched for the second time this season.
Quarterback is one of the most important positions in football, so the Jets need an answer soon. During the offseason, they signed Justin Fields, hoping he could take over for Aaron Rodgers after his final season. So far in 2025, Fields has experienced both highs and lows. Unfortunately, the lows have outweighed the highs.
The biggest issue this season came when the Jets benched Fields and replaced him with Tyrod Taylor. Fields often holds the football too long, takes too many sacks, and misses chances to throw touchdowns. Those mistakes have hurt the offense and slowed its rhythm. It’s been a rough stretch for a young quarterback who’s still developing.
Fields can still run and deliver big throws. He owns the physical tools every team wants in a starter. He’s very talented, but maybe the Jets haven’t put him in the best position to succeed. That might explain why his numbers have dropped this year.
There are still games left to play, and Justin has a chance to change the story down the stretch. Right now, though, no one knows if he’ll return next season. The Jets traded a few players for draft picks, which suggests they might already be planning to draft another quarterback. If that’s the case, the future in New York doesn’t look great for Justin.
Still, Justin Fields has every reason to feel proud. He keeps fighting and refuses to give up on his career. He’s not perfect, but he keeps pushing through every challenge. If things don’t work out with the Jets, another team will give him a shot. A fresh start in a new system might be exactly what he needs to revive his career.
Steelers' highly touted offseason addition gets bad news after impressive performance
The Pittsburgh Steelers have largely been a disappointment on defense throughout the first half or so of the 2025 season. That side of the ball relies on turnovers and often struggles getting off of the field, but the group has shown some improvements as the season has gone along. Those improvements have come with schematic adjustments as well as significant personnel changes, whether that be from injuries, poor play, or new additions. In recent weeks, Kyle Dugger has been a new addition who has played well, and James Pierre has shone while filling in for a beat-up cornerback room.
Pierre has been with Pittsburgh since the 2020 season, when he signed with the team as an undrafted free agent. He had a short stint with the Washington Commanders as well at the start of the 2024 season, but he ultimately wound up back in Pittsburgh. He has mostly just been a depth piece and a special teamer throughout his career, but he has been shining on defense in recent weeks. It started with a few good plays against the Los Angeles Chargers in relief of an injured Darius Slay, and he played well in Slay's spot against the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday, too.
Slay missed the game against the Bengals due to a concussion, and team insider Mark Kaboly believes there is a chance that Slay may have lost his starting job. He spoke about this during an appearance on 93.7 The Fan
"There's not one of us here that was thinking, 'Boy, James Pierre is gonna shut down Higgins and Chase,' said Kaboly. "We were thinking, 'Oh geez, this is gonna get ugly.' Why hasn't this guy been playing for two or three weeks now? Why hasn't he been playing for the last year if he's been that good? Or is this just a one off? I don't know, I guess we'll find out. But you can't bring Slay back right now. No way you can bring him back."
Pierre was receiving praise from everyone after the game against the Bengals, including his head coach, Mike Tomlin. Pierre had a tough test in front of him as the Bengals roster arguably has the best wide receiver duo in the league with Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins, as well as several capable third options. Pierre stood up to the challenge, and he was a big reason Cincinnati's passing attack was largely shut down.
Pierre had opportunities for an interception in each of the last two games. He nearly picked off Justin Herbert along the sidelines while playing the Chargers, and the same thing almost happened to end the game on Sunday. Pierre did scoop up a fumble and return it for a touchdown in the win over the Bengals, and he also did a good job tackling.
There is no reason for Pittsburgh to return to playing Slay at outside cornerback once he returns from his concussion. He should now be a depth piece, as Pittsburgh needs to see just how good Pierre can truly be.
Steelers still have Asante Samuel Jr. to add to the mix
Pittsburgh signed Asante Samuel Jr. last week, and he should be activated to the game-day roster in the near future. He was still getting used to the new defensive system and playing football again, so he was not activated for Cincinnati. Pittsburgh's secondary was initially struggling to begin the year, but now that unit seems to be pretty special.
The great plays have not come from where they were expected to, but it is great to see guys like Dugger and Pierre step up in the absence of others.
